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Japan's Broken
Employment Escalator

By

Robert Edelstein and

Jean-Michel Paul

Updated June 19, 1998 12:57 a.m. ET

The yen's recent dive--and attempted rescue--are only the latest reminders that the modeling career of Japan, Inc. is over. The Japanese economy is contracting at an annual rate of over 5%, consumer confidence is at an all-time low, and--perhaps most telling--unemployment is at an all-time high. In April, the unemployment rate rose to a record 4.1% (higher if measured by Western criteria), dangerously close to surpassing the U.S. rate of 4.3% for the first time in decades. While these figures are alarming in themselves, they are also symptoms of the imminent demise of the "Japan Model" and the pressing need...